Twenty and Out: A Life in Boxing - Tapa dura

Acerca del autor

Mickey Duff is a boxing manager and promoter who has been associated with all the great champions of the last 50 years.

Bob Mee is a freelance boxing journalist who has been at ringside for all the greatest encounters of the last 20 years. During that time he has written extensively for Boxing News and worked for ITV and Sky. This is his fourth book, following two encylopedic histories of the sport and Bare Fists, the tale of bare-knuckle combat.

De la contraportada

During a distinguished career as a boxing manager and promoter, Mickey Duff has guided 20 different fighters to world championship success. In fact he has been associated with all the best fighters of the last 50 years. Muhammad Ali, Sonny Liston, Mike Tyson, Sugar Ray Robinson – Duff has worked with them all.

Born and raised in Poland he escaped the clutches of Nazi Germany and the concentration camps in which many of his family perished, by a matter of weeks, and fled to England with his father. As a teenager in London's East End, he found his vocation – boxing. Although an undistinguished fighter, his record of eight defeats in 61 contests belied a greater talent for matchmaking. He had become adept at choosing his own opponents to get the most from his modest accomplishments. It was a talent that would later make him the best matchmaker the sport of boxing has ever seen.

From humble beginnings – putting on small hall shows in London's East End – he quickly emerged from the shadow of the big time promoter Jack Solomons to become one of the main players in the sport worldwide. This dominance reached its peak in a 10-year period fro9m 1975 when, in partnership with millionaire businessman Jarvis Astaire, he formed an exclusive alliance with the BBC and exerted a stranglehold of influence over the sport that will probably never be surpassed.

Duff has either managed or promoted a string of world champions – most notably guiding John H Stracey and Lloyd Honeyghan to improbable victories on foreign soil; turned former schoolboy discus champion, Joe Bugner, into a world heavyweight challenger who fought Ali twice; and more famously, masterminded the rise of Frank Bruno.

Among the many colourful tales from a lifetime in the fight game, he recounts fearsome encounters with gangsters, Jack 'Spot' Comer and the Kray twins; tells how he hand-picked disgraced former champion Mike Tyson's first eighteen opponents; and gives his forthright opinion on rival promoters, Don King and Frank Warren.

From war-torn Poland via London’s East End, to the neon lights of Las Vegas, the life and career of Mickey Duff has had all the twists and turns of a pulsating 12-round contest. He has witnessed first-hand many changes to a sport which has had more than its share of controversy over the years. Any fight-fan worth their salt should read the enthralling story of this giant of the sport and get the inside track on 50 years of boxing.